Teen Perspective: Sexuality

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Birth control prevents pregnancy. Some methods are very highly effective at preventing pregnancy while others have a bigger risk of failure. In general, the less there is for you to remember or do everyday or even every time you have sex, the better a method works. The most effective method that still allows a woman to later become pregnant when she is ready is the Intrauterine Device or IUD. Other very effective methods that require more regular attention from you are the hormone containing vaginal ring and daily birth control pills. These methods require you to see a health care provider. The least effective method is having your partner pull out before he has an orgasm or "cums." This latter method has a one if four chance of getting pregnant during a year of use. It is important to take a pill everyday. If you have forgotten a pill, take it as soon as you realize you have forgotten it. You must also use a back up method of contraception such as condoms or stop having sex until you have once again taken 7 pills for 7 days in a row. The only birth control method that also protects you from sexually transmitted infections is condoms. Of course, condoms can be used along with the more effective pills, rings, patches, or IUDs to prevent sexually transmitted infections.

Birth control pills prevent pregnancy. Most pills contain the two hormones progesterone and estrogen. Hormones act as messengers in the body. In the case of estrogen and progesterone, the natural levels of hormones change throughout the menstrual cycle, allowing an egg to mature and to ovulate and for a pregnancy to occur if a woman has sex. Birth control pills keep the level of estrogen and progesterone the same all month long. This prevents the egg from developing and ovulating. Most pills are packaged in cycles of either 21 or 24 medication containing pills, followed by either 7 or 4 placebo or hormone free pills. Some pills are in longer cycles of 84 days, followed by placebo pills. When you take the placebo pills, the hormone level in your blood with drop. This triggers any lining that has developed in the uterus to flow out like a menstrual period. For some women the dose of estrogen and progesterone in birth control pills is so low and so balanced that they don't develop a lining in the uterus and then don't bleed when they get to the hormone free days. It is very important to start the next package of pills on the correct day even if you haven't finished or even started bleeding. It is also important to take a pill everyday. If you have forgotten a pill, take it as soon as you realize you have forgotten it. You must also use a back up method of contraception such as condoms or stop having sex until you have once again taken 7 pills for 7 days in a row. Sometimes women who do not need contraception use birth control pills to decrease their bleeding or their cramps with their periods. Birth control pills require a prescription from your health care provider.

A condom prevents pregnancy by capturing the sperm cells in the ejaculated male semen or “cum.” This prevents the sperm from reaching the egg in the female fallopian tubes and fertilizing the egg. If a condom falls off or breaks inside the woman, then the sperm can quickly travel into her uterus and tubes and the protection from pregnancy is lost. A small drop of semen contains thousands to millions of sperm cells. This means even the tiny drop of pre-ejaculate found on the tip of an aroused male penis is enough to cause a pregnancy if it gets into the female vagina. Condoms work best to prevent pregnancy if the man puts it on his penis before he gets anywhere near his partner’s vagina and if he removes his penis from the vagina as soon as he orgasms and ejaculates so that no sperm cells can escape.

Trichomoniasis is spread through intimate contact. This means not only sex, the penis in the vagina, but any touching of genitals or sex toys from the infected person to a partner, can spread trichomoniasis. Trichomoniasis is a single-celled orgranism with a flagella, or tail, that can move through the secretions of the vagina and penis. It can be seen on a microscope at an office visit. It causes a fishy odor, discharge, itching and sometimes redness. There are other things that can cause similar symptoms, so it needs to be checked and diagnosed by a health care provider. It is treated and cured with specific antibiotics.

Simply put, sex is designed to cause pregnancy. This means not having sex, or having the penis ejaculate or “cum” anywhere near the vagina, is the best way to prevent pregnancy. No method of pregnancy prevention is absolutely perfect. If you are having sex then in general, the less you have to do about birth control everyday or even every time you have sex, the better the birth control works at preventing pregnancy. For women who still want to be able to have a pregnancy later when the time is right, the most effective birth control is an intrauterine device or IUD. About 1 in 1000 couples using the IUD have an unplanned pregnancy. Also very effective are the pills, patch and vaginal ring that contain hormones. Less than 1 to 3 couples in 100 have unplanned pregnancies when using these methods correctly. You must see your health care provider to obtain all of these methods.

Trichomoniasis is a microscopic organism. It is a single cell with a tail-like structure called a flagella that allows it to move through liquid. Trichomoniasis lives in the genital tract, the vagina of women and the penis of men. It is spread from one person to another through sex. The symptoms include a watery discharge that causes burning and itching. There may also be swelling. You must see a health care provider for an examination to be sure the symptoms are in fact caused by trichomoniasis. The infection is cured with antibiotics.

It takes a certain amount of self -respect, or liking yourself, to control your sexuality and help you make healthy decisions about having sex. This self-respect is something that hopefully gets stronger and better as you grow and mature. It also takes basic information about sex and pregnancy to prevent pregnancy. It is easier to find and to understand this information when you are older. A girl who goes through puberty early, at age 9 or even older, has a body that may be able to get pregnant, but doesn’t always have the information or ability to protect herself from the sex that causes pregnancy. We all need to work together to protect young girls from the harm that having sex too early can cause. If you have a friend who is physically mature, but doesn’t seem to have the help and support she needs to be safe, get the help of a responsible adult. This adult might be your parents, your health care provider, a counselor at school, a minister or other religious person, or a close and trusted friend.

HPV stands for human papilloma virus. There are over a hundred different strains of HPV, some of which are known to cause changes in the cells of the cervix that are detected as abnormal pap smears. If left untreated, these changes can progress into cervical cancer. Other strains of HPV cause genital warts. HPV is transmitted through sex and intimate contact such as genitals touching genitals. You can also get HPV in other tissue called mucus membranes such as the mouth and anus. The virus is very, very common in humans. When women in their 50’s were tested, 80% of these women showed signs of at least having been exposed to HPV at some time in their lives. Health care can cure the symptoms of HPV, the abnormal paps and genital warts. But because it is a virus, there are no medicines that can cure HPV. Yet we now think that more than 80% of people who get HPV either cure it or suppress it enough to prevent problems through their own immune system. Using condoms helps reduce the chances of catching HPV. It is also important to stay healthy so that if you catch HPV, your immune system will be strong enough to cure the virus. One of the most important changes you can make to prevent problems from HPV is to not use tobacco.

Genital herpes are caused by a virus called Herpes Simplex Virus. There are several strains of this virus. Genital herpes is almost always caused by the strain of herpes called type 2. This virus is very common. When a person has an active blister, the person is the most contagious but the virus can also be spread even when there isn’t a blister present. The best ways to avoid spreading or catching the virus is to not touch active blisters as in kissing or having sex. Using condoms for sex reduces the risk of spreading the virus. There are oral tablets that can be used to make the symptoms go away more quickly. You need a prescription from your health care provider for these tablets. A person that keeps getting outbreaks of blisters very frequently may use the same tablets on a daily basis. This not only prevents or reduces further outbreaks, but also reduces the amount of virus they have to spread and protects their intimate partners.